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High Appeals

Turnout at last month’s Liberty Bell Smoke-Out was as low as the frigid temperatures, but that didn’t stop marijuana activists Ed "NJ Weedman" Forchion and Patrick Duff from making waves on Sat., Dec. 20.

With about 20 supporters and a handful of curious onlookers on hand for the event, the two blazed up a spliff at precisely 4:20 p.m., as planned. Though they cited their smoking as a Rastafarian sacrament for the "victims of the war on drugs," 14 armed National Park Service officers immediately confiscated the single joint the two shared without using force.

After patting their suspects down and running background checks, officers saddled the men with $150 citations. (Upon seeing the tickets, one rally member asked whether this meant anybody could blaze up at Independence Mall, provided they had $150 to burn. NPS spokesperson Phil Sheridan didn’t want to speculate, but hinted the fines could actually rise as the case wins its way through the judicial system.)

That isn’t likely to be the end of this weed tale, though. Attorney Michael Coard, who raised holy hell to draw attention to the fact that George Washington’s slaves once lived five feet from where the Liberty Bell now sits, videotaped the entire event and will represent -- pro bono -- a pair of men he describes as "21st-century patriots." He plans to base his defense around constitutional freedom of religion law.

"It’s not about Ed. It’s not about Pat. It’s about protecting our civil rights. They just happen to be Rastas," says Coard, who’s confident the charges will disappear before trial. "It could be Christians during Prohibition that some politicians would not allow to drink wine during communion."

From here, Duff says plans are in the works for yet another smokeout at the Liberty Bell on Jan. 24. "I hope more people show up," he says.

Once again, though, the NPS will be waiting. Says Sheridan, "There are boundaries to our rights under the First Amendment that do not allow individuals to break other laws."

Duff admits the events are publicity stunts designed to draw attention to political campaigns he and Forchion plan to launch. Duff’s eyeing an at-large Council seat in 2007, while Forchion will seek a U.S. Congress seat in New Jersey.

"I don’t have any illusions that I’m going to win," says Forchion, who once ran for Camden County (N.J.) freeholder, "but I want a significant amount of people to voice their opinions about the war on drugs. They can do that by voting for me."—Morris Bracy IV

The DROP Files

The city of Philadelphia pays generous pension benefits to retiring employees. Generous to a fault. And taxpayers are stuck with the bill.

Over the next four years, under an experimental program known as the DROP (short for Deferred Retirement Option Plan), the city has agreed to pay cash bonuses that average $132,000 each, to a total of 3,484 employees, for a total of $461 million. What do these employees have to do to collect these fat checks? Simply sign up for the DROP and walk out the door.

Don’t believe it? Well, under the DROP, the city has already paid out cash bonuses that average $49,618, or a total of $40.9 million. That brings the total cost of the DROP to more than $500 million! This, in a city on the verge of bankruptcy, with a projected budget deficit this year of $150 million.

City Paper has obtained a complete listing of cash bonuses, as well as a compilation of several stories written on the subject. Want to find out who got what in the great $500 million giveaway? Hit the CP website (www.citypaper.net/drop) and discover what both daily newspapers in this town won’t tell you: that people at City Hall are walking out the door with, as one worker put it, a "little pot of gold" that you end up paying for. —Ralph Cipriano